Supply of Krishna water from Andhra Pradesh, which is a major contributor to the city’s drinking water reserve, has reduced significantly over the past couple of days.
However, the dip in volume is only temporary and increased supply will resume in a week, say officials of Water Resources Department.
While the reduced flow has raised concerns of water shortage in the ensuing summer days, officials of WRD say the current supply to the city will not be affected as Andhra Pradesh authorities have promised to increase Krishna water supply in a week.
On Friday, Uthukottai, the entry point of Kandaleru-Poondi canal, received about 95 cubic feet per second (cusecs) of water, much less than the 550 cusecs it has been receiving over the past two months.
Though the Kandaleru reservoir, which supplies Krishna water to the city, has sufficient storage, the discharge has decreased as water released for irrigation needs has been stopped.
The discharge will be increased again in a week to enable the city to receive nearly 700-800 cusecs, says an official.
Sources in Metrowater say the amount of water drawn from reservoirs, to supply to Chennai, will remain the same.
At present, Chennai is supplied with close to 585 million litres of drinking water per day, on alternate days, from multiple sources.
The city has, so far, received 1,700 million cubic feet of Krishna water since January this year.
